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Joseph (Carpenter)
Joseph was a carpenter who lived in the town of Nazareth in the Roman province of . He lived during the reign of . He was of the Hebrew tribe of , with a lineage going back to King . He married , a girl from the same tribe, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. He was to become the legal father of , who was miraculously born to his wife before the two of them had consummated their , As a law-abiding Jew, he raised the child as his own, protecting him from harm and introducing him to and His Law. Bibliography Joseph, son of Jacob, was of the tribe of Judah and a descendant of King David Matt 1:16. He lived during the reign of Augustus Caesar in the province of . A carpenter by trade, he served the community building such furniture and utensils needed for life in the village of . Having become engaged to Mary, he found out that she was pregnant and planned to divorce her in a private agreement Matt 1:19. Before this happened, he had a dream in which an told him that the baby was a miracle from . He humbly took on the duty of being the earthly father of the child the angel told him to call "" (Hebrew: Yehoshua: the Lord saves). When the government called on him to return to his ancestral home of to be counted and taxed Luke 2:1-4, he took Mary with him, though it was nearly time for her to give birth. In making that journey, the couple fulfilled the prophecy on where the Messiah would be born Matt 2:6; John 7:42; Micah 5:2. After entertaining shepherds who came to see the newborn child he had lain in a manger Luke 2:7 , Joseph followed the Law concerning circumcision and dedication of the child Luke 2:21-24. In so doing, he became his legal father. Some time later, Joseph found a house in Bethlehem. It was to that home that foreign dignitaries know as Magi came to see the one they proclaimed to be "king of the Jews." Since these men had first visited the palace of , a plan had been set in motion to kill the child. Being warned in another dream, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt. It was only after Herod had died that the family returned to Nazareth Matt 2:12-15. When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph brought him to for the annual feasts. Thinking the lad was with cousins or close friends, he and Mary left him for several days before going back to find their son conversing with theologians. Jesus spoke of doing his Father's business, and Joseph could see that he was not practicing carpentry in the temple Luke 2:41-19. Once in Jesus' ministry, local people referred to him as "the carpenter's son" but a parallel passage spoke only of Jesus being a carpenter. It is unclear in the record, but since his name is not mentioned, it may be that Joseph had died before Jesus began his public ministry. Verses